Discourse for all interested in all things air-quality related
In a comment to the recent “Valley makes air-quality progress, but critical ozone, PM standards have yet to be met,” Dec. 14, 2022 Air Quality Matters posting, I wrote: “The progress and work must continue if the Valley is to meet the remaining federal National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for 24-hour average and annual … Read more
San Joaquin Valley, California residents are breathing much easier thanks to the dedicated and hard work of the area’s many constituent interests who have not only taken the time already, but, in going forward, are committed to making a positive-air difference. The results we are seeing would not have been possible without this kind of … Read more
The below Sept. 10, 2022 press release is from the European Society for Medical Oncology.* A new mechanism has been identified through which very small pollutant particles in the air may trigger lung cancer in people who have never smoked, paving the way to new prevention approaches and development of therapies, according to late-breaking data … Read more
The below is from the Oct. 12, 2022 press release from the Center for Biological Diversity.* A federal judge approved a legal agreement today requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to update measures protecting the environment from soot, sulfur and nitrogen air pollution by Dec. 10, 2024. “Under this agreement, the EPA can no longer skirt … Read more
Fallout: That’s nasty stuff. Well, that’s exactly what we’re talking about with wind-blown toxic lakebed dust. And, if that weren’t enough, conditions are being exacerbated by the effects of a changing climate. In order to fully understand what’s on the line here, we need to understand both the problem and its extent. Because of climate change coupled … Read more
Just to be clear, air condition is not to be confused with air conditioning, which refers to or implies, enclosed-environment temperature and humidity reduction. Air condition, as used here, has to do with the condition or state air is in, as in whether the air is pure or impure, for instance. Okay, so now that … Read more
It is safe to say there will never be such thing as zero polluted air. Even Mother Nature adds her own share: Think dust storms, volcanic eruptions and lightning strikes. With this knowledge, what amount of pollution in the air, then, is acceptable? To try to provide an answer, that would seem to be contingent … Read more
With COP 27 just around the corner, I have a message for everyone. Look, I get that we’re not all climatologists, meteorologists or scientists – 97 percent of whom, by the way, accept the premise that climate change is a thing; it’s real, in other words, that is based on scientific consensus. I would go … Read more
A while ago I reported on testing on school buses in the Los Angeles region a concept known as HECA or High-Efficiency Cabin Air filtration. Filtering units were placed inside designated L.A. region school bus interiors, done expressly for the purpose of determining device effectiveness as it has to do with its abilility to remove … Read more
For those who don’t know, California’s approximately 300-mile-long by roughly 80-mile-wide San Joaquin Valley has some of America’s worst air quality. For the past 20 years or so, such Valley cities as Bakersfield, Fresno, Hanford, Madera and Visalia, for example, have consistently ranked among those places in the United States with the highest amounts of … Read more